Govt’s rejection of parts of Short C’ssion report a cover-up – Sam George

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram, Sam George has said he does not regret appearing before the Emile Short Commission despite the government partly rejecting its findings.

Mr. George, a key witness in the Commission’s public hearings, chose to give evidence despite his party’s boycott.

The Emile Short Commission recommended the criminal prosecution of a national security operative who slapped Sam George, but the government rejected the recommendation.

It explained in a White Paper that a prosecution will not be necessary because there was a valid defence of provocation.

Speaking to Citi News, Mr George said he is not surprised at the government’s stance.

“I thank the Commission for a fantastic job they did in service of the Republic. A senior member of the bar of the Supreme Court, former head of CHRAJ, former Inspector General of Police, highly respectable people in this country and our President who has the ultimate responsibility in this country is spitting in the face of the constitution, spitting in the face of the people in this country and is refusing to accept the findings of the Commission.”

“If I had not gone before the Commission, the facts of the matter, the truth as exposed during the Commission’s sitting would not have been as we see today represented in the report. My appearance before the Commission and appearing with evidence that has been corroborated by others who were present there has led the Commission to do an impartial report but as I said, because the President was looking for a cover-up, because he knew this did not fit in his agenda of a grand cover-up, he disagreed with the Commission, calling incompetent, the personality and integrity of the three commissioners that sat on that Commission.”

In his appearance before the commission, national security operative apologised for slapping the MP.

Explaining why some of the findings were rejected, the government said, “the report failed to address the first and most critical of the terms of reference of the commission.”

“The failure to do so disables government from accepting in whole the findings of the commission,” the White Paper said.

The commission was among other things mandated “to make a full, faithful and impartial inquiry into the circumstances of, and establish the facts leading to the events and associated violence that occurred during the Aysawaso West Wuogon by-election.”